


The Adventures of Mens et Manus

by orphan_account



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Aunt Tasha, Bucky is trying okay, Confused Bucky Barnes, Daddy Phil, Daddy Steve, Deaf Clint Barton, Domestic Avengers, Fluff, Multi, Non-Sexual Age Play, Panic Attacks, Tony's PTSD, babies messing with a dog, little Tony, little bruce, little clint, poor pup, service dog, these tags are your warning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-10
Updated: 2016-06-15
Packaged: 2018-07-14 04:57:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7154507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Three littles, a dog and a confused Bucky living in the Avengers Tower. What could go wrong?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> To clarify: This is not a "Littles are Known" AU. Takes place after Winter Soldier, but yay! They found Bucky! Our fucked up family of heroes is living in the Avengers Tower.

   There wasn’t much Stark couldn’t do. The man and the name. Both would bring to mind a booming company and an eccentric billionaire superhero. There wasn’t much more for anyone to want in life but those things that could easily be tied to his name. Stark was an icon, a legend, a witty man with a pretty face who could pull the heartstrings of any member of the press with a confident smile and well-scripted speech. Hell, he could just pull the words out of his ass if he needed to. He had done it many times before, and nobody besides Pepper and a few friends of his could tell the difference. That’s right. He could wing a speech, get laid (twice) and invent some new useless invention that America would love in less than 12 hours easy. Stark could do it all and then some.

   Tony was a very different story.

   A recluse, to say the least, and a wreck, to say something...more. While the outside world would’ve guessed what he did in his tower all day to be things along the line of throwing parties and changing the world, those who lived in that tower knew the true happenings. One of the residents pressed a cold, wet nose against the back of the man’s neck, making him yelp and jolt before whipping around. “What the hell--”

   Light brown eyes watched him, clearly unimpressed. Whatever. He huffed and reached out to give the one of the dog’s ears a gentle tug and was rewarded with a quiet bark before the dog stood and nudged his shoulder, pushing him. “Alright, alright. You win.” Tony stood and stretched and damn. His back hurt like a bitch. He thanked the dog quietly for doing his job. 

   “It is 5:32 PM, sir, which means you have been in the workshop for almost five hours. It seems Manus has decided that is long enough.” JARVIS supplied, sounding rather smug for an AI. The dog, Manus, was still shoving at Tony’s side as gently as possible to get his master moving towards the door. Tony sighed and held onto the handle on the dog’s vest as he begrudgingly left the workshop, wobbly on his feet after having spent so long sitting on the floor to frantically sketch designs on a tablet. Manus easily handled the weight as he guided Tony to the elevator.

   He considered for a short while before pressing the button for the communal floor. It was close to dinner time, right? 

   It was. Once they arrived to their destination seconds later, the two strode in. Tony caught the scent of something cooking and peeked into the kitchen to see a head of dark curly hair bobbing slightly to some quiet tune being played over the speakers. Golden. He signaled Manus to stay and silently entered the kitchen.

   Tony snuck up behind the fellow scientist and grabbed Bruce’s sides. “Hey Brucey!” He called happily, snide.

   But Bruce just looked back at him and raised a brow, smirking. “Hey Tony. Better leave the stealth to Clint and Nat.” He answered, voice calm but just as snide. The genius behind him scoffed and rolled his eyes before letting go and leaning against the counter.

   “For someone with a big green Mr. Hyde inside of him you sure are hard to rile up. You must be really fun at sports games.” Tony watched as Bruce prepared the food, some sort of curry. Boy did that man love his curries.

   “I prefer the more extreme sports. Curling, croquet, bocce ball. You know the ones.” Bruce tossed back with a sly but fond smirk. The look was quickly returned. “You and Manus should go get the others. Dinner’s almost ready.” What a nice way of telling Tony to get the hell out of the kitchen before he catches something on fire. After all, the task could easily be performed by JARVIS. Tony nodded though, even saluted Bruce. “Sir, yes, sir.” And then he ventured off, giving Manus the signal to follow him. The tan Pit Bull happily did so, focused on Tony.

   Instead of taking the elevator again, Tony decided to take the stairs. More exercise for Manus (and himself, because no fucking way was he going on another run with Steve) that way. Clint and Natasha’s floor was first. They had their own floors, but Nat never used her’s. 

   Nobody said anything about it because nobody had the desire to die.

   And Tony barged right in, because knocking was a waste of time for other people that aren’t Tony Stark. “Legolas, Shelob, dinner’s almost ready. Bruce made curry. Again.” As soon as he entered their floor his hand found the dog’s head and rested there. 

   Natasha was sitting on the couch reading a book, which looked like it was in Russian, but Clint was nowhere to be seen. She looked up, attempting to appear annoyed, but Tony caught that sliiiight smile. One point for him. Nice. “Where’s bird boy?” He asked.

   “Phil is here.” That’s all she needed to say. And suddenly Tony felt itchy, but in a good way. He tried to ignore it, rolling his eyes. “Well, I don’t know how long Dr. Jekyll will want to wait. Clint and him are still in a ‘can Clint handle spicy curry’ competition.” But that was unlikely to happen with Phil here.

   As previously mentioned, nobody had the desire to die. 

   Natasha set the book down on the coffee table, stood, stretched, looked towards Clint’s bedroom door. “Knock yourself out, Tony. I’ll get Steve and Bucky.” And hey, no fair! That was his job. But before he could protest she was out the door. Damn. Tony huffed as he and Manus made their way to the bedroom door. And this time he knocked.

   Well, as a warning at least. He still opened the door and barged right in. It was his tower, damn it.

   And he found what he expected. Phil and Clint were laying in bed, the latter in between the former’s legs with his back to his chest. Cute. Phil seemed to be pretending to listen while Clint rattled off the words from a book. Which was for the best. The archer’s reading skills were...not so great. They both perked up when Tony entered and Clint instantly flashed a huge grin.

   Tony knew that grin well, and it made his itch from earlier start up again. He scratched Manus behind the ears to ignore it as Clint practically fell from the bed to get to him.

   Well, get to Manus. But he stopped short and stared at Tony, who just stared back before realizing! Oh! The dog still had his working vest on. What a polite kid. “Yeah, you can go ahead and pet him.” He told Clint, who wasted no time in sinking to his knees and showering the dog with love. Phil chuckled, catching Tony’s attention. The agent nodded to him as a greeting while he got out of the bed. “Sorry about him. He’s just full of energy today.” Phil wore a tired smile. He loved Clint, but damn was he a handful when he was little. No wonder Natasha had retreated to the safety of her book.

   “No, it’s fine. I just forgot to take off his vest. Little idiot’s been good so I think he deserves some attention.” Who knows which little idiot he was talking about. Tony gave an actual smile to Clint, which soothed the itch a bit. “Hey Clint, Bruce made curry. It’s probably ready by now.” He said, and bit back a laugh at the man’s head whipping up to stare at him. Even toddler Clint took his dumb competitions seriously. Damn.

   “You heard him, bud. Let’s go eat.” Phil told Clint before giving his arm a gentle tug up. He huffed and stood before hurrying ahead of them and up the stairs. Phil rolled his eyes and he and Tony followed their excited teammate up to the communal floor.

   Voices could be heard from the dining room, and Bruce must’ve turned off his weird music to avoid the complaining. Small miracles. The two men and dog walked in and Phil was immediately attacked by Clint in a tight hug. Tony chuckled and glanced around the table. Sure enough, Nat had retrieved the super soldiers. Bucky and Steve were standing by the table, talking about who the hell knows what. Probably something old. Steve was doing most of the talking anyway. Bucky was doing well with his recovery, but the man still wasn’t all there. Steve, being Steve, tended to get a bit too eager and dump too much on him all at once. Tony swooped in to the rescue.

   Which just means he walked over and leaned up to give the good captain a kiss before sitting at the table, effectively shutting him up and earning a half-hearted glare from a very red Steve. Adorable.

   “Aw, c’mon, I’m at least a better kisser than Manus!” He grinned. Said dog had laid down under the table right in front of Tony’s legs, just like how he was trained to do. Bruce was setting down plates of food and returned the high-five Tony was waiting for, shaking his head fondly. Nat, Phil and Clint had already sat down in that order. As Tony glanced around at his team, he got that horrible itch again. It sent light shivers down his spine and he could feel a headache coming on. Or maybe just sleep deprivation.

   Steve took the seat on his left, Bucky the one on his right, while Bruce sat on Steve’s other side. As they all began to eat and chatter, Tony hesitated a bit before scooting his chair a bit closer to Steve and leaning against him as he ate. The blond man didn’t question it, just reached up to card his fingers through Tony’s hair while he talked with Phil about boring shit Tony didn’t care for. He looked over to see what Clint was doing and boy did Clint never fail to entertain. The archer had taken both his and Natasha’s forks and was making them dance around on the table. It was a wonder Phil hadn’t noticed, but, well, the man was talking to his hero. Or he just chose to ignore Clint’s antics. Natasha was watching with a smile, one of the real ones.

   Tony looked to Bucky next. His hair was pulled back into a sloppy ponytail and he was already done with his food, having eaten instead of talked. Tony hadn’t talked either, but he was only half done and already full. He sat up from Steve’s shoulder and transferred himself to Bucky’s shoulder instead, his cheek touching the cool metal of the arm. Bucky stiffened a bit, but Tony just hummed and relaxed to the sound of his team--his family--talking. Eventually he felt Bucky relax, too.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Directly following the last chapter.

   Not all good things last. 

   A dull fact Tony was entirely familiar with. But one he tried to shove away as he leaned against Bucky, content. The man had at some point moved his arm so Tony was against his side instead, and that was fine because it meant that his hand was free to play with Tony’s hair instead. It was entirely possible (incredibly likely) that Bucky was just copying what he had seen Steve doing earlier. But that didn’t matter so long as he didn’t stop. Tony watched as the others cleared the table and didn’t feel too bad about not helping since Bucky and Clint didn’t help either. Logically he knew that was only because little Clint was even better at dropping things than big Clint and Bucky was busy being a human pillow. 

   Tony truly couldn’t care less. He was comfy and that itch was going away bit by bit. That probably should’ve caught him more off guard, but he didn’t really think about it. Then he was nudged by Bucky and made a little noise of protest. “C’mon, we’re headin’ to the livin’ room.” Bucky told him, voice quieter than usual for Tony’s sake but still gravelly. Tony was a big fan of his voice. It was his second favorite, right after Steve. Because Steve sounded confident and like he knew what he was doing.

   He nodded and scooted his chair back before standing. Manus appeared from under the table, alert and focused and ready to go. In exchange he received a few pats on the head before Tony followed Bucky to the living room. He had forgotten it was Saturday, which meant they had to do some sort of team bonding exercise.

   Luckily, it looked as though his fellow Avengers were just going to watch a movie. Great. He could make comments about predictable plots and horrible actors without having to actually talk to anyone. And there was an open spot in his favorite armchair. Things were working out rather well for him. He kneeled down to take off the dog’s vest and tossed it on the coffee table before settling in the chair. 

   “So, what are we watching? Sex and the City? Lord of the Rings?” He fired the questions as Natasha browsed the selection on Netflix. She raised an eyebrow at him and shrugged. “It has to be kid friendly, Tony.” She nodded towards Clint before turning her attention back to the television to find something decent.

   Clint, who was seated on the floor in front of Phil, frowned and glared at his best friend before mumbling something along the lines of “Shut up, Tasha” and earning himself a light slap to the back of the head from Phil. He gave him a pointed look, not even having to say anything to get Clint to apologize. Tony chuckled and looked to the rest of the team while he reached one hand down to press against the back of the dog’s neck in a grounding exercise he didn’t even notice himself doing. The itch was back.

   While Phil and Natasha were occupying the couch furthest from him, Steve, Bucky and Bruce were on the closer one directly facing the television. Bruce was between the two super soldiers, sufficiently dwarfed by them. From the way the two larger men were sitting Tony suspected they were holding hands behind the good doctor. Even knowing that there would be absolutely no harm, the two usually preferred to hide their affection in public on the rare occasions Bucky was fine with the touch. It must’ve been a good day for Bucky, too, since he didn’t seem to mind it. 

   Natasha eventually chose How to Train Your Dragon, since it was kid friendly but still interesting enough for the rest of them. Tony, ever the thinker, was trying to figure out ways he could’ve improved Hiccup’s gear for Toothless with just the recourses they had available back then. 

   He didn’t last long on that train of thought before shaken into the next one with a shiver. The communal rooms of the tower were always kept at 67°F for some reason, and Tony didn’t feel like asking JARVIS to change it. Instead he looked towards the closest couch. It was occupied by super soldiers who were pretty much walking furnaces, and his favorite scientist (besides himself, of course). Said scientist had critiqued his sneaking skills earlier, but Tony wasn’t worried about that. He was past that whole shame and slyness thing. So he gave Manus the gesture for stay before standing up.

   Quickly, so as to avoid interrupting the movie, Tony scurried over to the couch and stared at the three for a moment before grinning and plopping right down in Steve’s lap. He heard some chuckling from the other couch and shot a glare their way. When he felt Steve’s free arm wrap around his middle he relaxed and brought his knees up so he was just a ball of Tony in the other man’s lap. He had expected the itch to lessen, but instead it grew and he huffed, then turned slightly so he could fist his hands in Steve’s hoodie. Big Tony was leaving the situation pretty fast. Steve just looked down at him with an amused and slightly confused smile before looking back to the movie.

   The movie was boring. Tony was bored. He squirmed around a bit, watching Bruce instead of the movie. Eventually his staring worked because Bruce sighed and looked over at him, met with Tony’s smug smile. Nope. He looked right back to the television to continue watching the movie.

   Tony huffed quietly at being ignored and wriggled until he was facing Steve in the man’s lap. He started messing with the strings of Steve’s hoodie, pulling them so they were different lengths and then evening them out over and over. Of course Steve noticed and gave Tony another confused look, but his expression changed when he caught the twinkle in Tony’s eyes. Instead he smiled and kissed Tony’s forehead. Tony didn’t even notice when one of his thumbs slipped into his mouth until Steve tugged at it lightly. “No,” he admonished quietly, “thumbs aren’t for that, Tony.” 

   If they thought they didn’t have the attention of everyone in the room, they were wrong. The others were all giving side glances to watch the process of Tony rapidly falling into little space, except Clint who was too busy quietly ranting to Phil about dragons. “I could get to the best vantage points without Tony’s help if I had a dragon.” He pointed out, as if he was trying to convince Phil to let him get an actual dragon and had to list all the selling points. Phil just gave him serious looks and hummed as though he was really weighing the pros and cons of all this dragon business.

   Tony whined and took his thumb from his mouth, not hesitating when he wiped the spit off on Steve’s shirt. Tiny victories like that served him well. He yawned and leaned against Steve’s broad chest, mumbling “Daddy.” Just to solidify how he was feeling. The itch was completely gone. Replaced with the warm feeling of being with his Daddy, who was stroking a hand through his hair again and nodded. “Tony.” He answered, a teasing smirk in place. 

   But Tony didn’t catch it, luckily. He slipped his fingers into his mouth and suckled at them because hey! They weren’t his thumb! He was a devoted fan of technicalities whether he was little or big. Tony reached out with his free hand to pat at Steve’s face, obviously wanting more attention. Had he turned back and watched the movie with the rest of them, he would’ve seen the ending. But he already had before, so the loss wasn’t too detrimental.

   Steve gave him an unimpressed look remarkably similar to Natasha’s one from earlier. Those two seriously needed to stop hanging out. But Tony was not deterred in the slightest. He only smiled past his fingers and nuzzled the captain’s neck with his nose happily. Bruce didn’t really pay too much attention. He had seen and played with little Tony a hell of a lot. Bucky, on the other hand, was a different story.

   Of course he knew they did it. He was dating the three buffoons on the couch with him. Bucky had seen it and been told all about it. But it still mystified him. Mainly because he didn’t know how he was supposed to get involved. The other three had stressed that he didn’t have to participate if it made him uncomfortable, and that was nice of them. But Bucky didn’t feel right just...watching. He wanted to help. He just had no idea how to go about doing that. 

   At Tony’s insistent suckling and whining for attention, Steve hugged him tight before standing and lifting the genius with him easily. “I think we’re gonna get you in some pyjamas.” He told Tony, eyeing his grease-stained t-shirt disdainfully. Had to get him out of that thing pronto. Tony nodded eagerly, clinging to Steve but still managing to keep his fingers in his mouth in lieu of a pacifier. They were all a little bit surprised at what they heard next.

   “Can I help?” Bucky blurted from the couch, eyes a little wide.


	3. Chapter 3

   Manus was professionally trained, like many other service dogs. His training centered around work with victims of PTSD and mild physical limitations. The pit learned fast, eagerly taking on every new command. He was of a breed meant to work, a breed willing to do whatever it took to please. Manus would've tried his damn hardest to turn the world backwards on its axis if that's what he had to do. But for Tony, all he had to do was help. Alerting to panic attacks, reminding him to take his medication, blocking strangers, dragging Tony out of the lab or running to get someone who could. There were more things, and he did them all without hesitation. 

   He and Tony were the perfect match. Both were intelligent, caring and in some way viewed negatively by society. Tony for his past of sex and drugs and bad decisions. Manus for his breed. But when they worked together, the two could take on the world and then some. All in a day’s work for Manus. But that day, he just had to stay. He’d been given the command, and Tony seemed okay. Steve would watch out for him. Manus leaned against the chair and looked lazy, but his focus never broke. He waited for Tony.

#

   Bucky wished he was nearly as confident as Manus. There were things he was sure of, things he was totally confident in and wouldn't hesitate with. But then there were other things.

   Things like Tony.

   Steve’s little boy. Big or little, he was spoiled rotten. Just in different ways. Big Tony bought cars and built things and did whatever the hell he pleased, within reason. That reason tended to differ based on amount of sleep. Little Tony got new toys, new pacifiers, all the cuddles he could possibly want. Steve was especially good with that last bit.

   Bucky? Bucky was not good with that last bit. At least he assumed he wasn't. He hadn't tried much. While he was in a relationship with his three favorite guys, he didn't often get physical. He figured the cold, hard metal arm would throw people off. Ruin the mood.

   But then Tony had acted as if the thing was fine as a pillow. Which threw Bucky for a loop. So he just let it happen. Surprisingly, it wasn't so bad. It was actually kind of fucking great. He was a big fan.

   Tony was a handful. A good one, but still. For that reason, Bucky spent more time with Bruce. The man was usually calm and easygoing, when not being pestered by the other mad scientist in the tower (“Science, Bruce!”). But even so, Bruce was witty and fun. Especially when he was finding new ways to fuck with Clint. The archer made it too easy, his feathers so quick to ruffle. They just had to save their fun for when Phil wasn't around.

   Once Tony had clambered into Steve’s lap, Bucky had made up his mind. He wanted in. He could do this. It couldn't be that hard. He had dim memories of kids liking him back before the war. Things had changed, undoubtedly, he had changed. Restarted. Even so, he was determined. 

   That determination wavered after his question to Steve. The man shot him a disbelieving look, but quickly tried to hide it with a smile. Maybe this was a bad idea. But before he could back out, Steve nodded and said, “Yeah, of course, Buck.” Damn that man for being so welcoming. Seriously, he needed to cut that shit out. Now Bucky was stuck(y). He attempted to return the smile, and probably looked like he was some sort of murderer.

   Which, well.

   If the shoe fits.

   Don't think about that. Bucky stood awkwardly, and followed, even more awkwardly. All while giving himself an inner pep talk that sounded a lot like things Steve had told him. You can do this. There's no reason to doubt yourself. Just fuckin’ go for it, balls in. Okay. That last part wasn't very Cap. Mainly just Bucky.

   He wasn't much expecting the next thing to touch him. Bruce. He had stood as well and brushed against Bucky’s side. When met with Bucky’s gaze he just raised his eyebrows and shrugged. Along for the ride. Bucky turned back and followed Steve out of the room and up the stairs, closely trailed by Bruce. They made it to their floor, which was really Steve’s floor, fast. Once there Bruce split from the herd, heading towards the bathroom. 

   Bucky, Steve and of course Tony went to the bedroom. The good captain set Tony on the bed before turning back to the walk-in closet. “Get him out of those filthy clothes for me, Buck?” He called back, though it wasn't much of a question. Bucky nodded anyway and faced the boy on the bed. Who was staring at him. Great.

   “Hey Tony. I'm just gonna get you out of those dirty clothes now, okay?” He warned. Because he felt like of it was him, he would've liked a warning. Bucky was just answered with Tony’s blank stare. Fantastic. He walked closer and apparently Tony had understood, because he raised his arms so his shirt came off easier when Bucky pulled it off of him. Small mercies. Next was pants. Which would be easier if Tony was standing. Bucky hesitated a bit before hooking his hands under Tony’s arms and lifting him up. Once he had his footing, Bucky let go and felt Tony’s hands latch onto his shirt. It made it a little harder to slip the genius’s sweats down his hips, but not impossible. Tony stepped out of them and when Bucky looked up he had the biggest smile. Bucky melted a bit and gave his own smile, not as big but just as sincere.

   Steve was waiting, holding Tony’s pyjamas for the night. Bucky blushed a bit when he noticed his boyfriend watching, but held his composure. Steve smiled, nodded and took over. He had Tony in the footed pyjamas in no time. They were made to look like a puppy, yellow with a soft white belly and black “paws.” Adorable. Most shopping made Steve uncomfortable, not used to having that much money (or any at all, really), but he was a master when it came to clothes shopping.

   Bucky just watched. It was probably for the best. Too much at once would be horribly overwhelming. Tony spoke up, voice exuberant, but gentler than big Tony, “Play, daddy!” He reached for Steve and instead of being picked up, his daddy joined hands with him and hummed. “I don't know. It's pretty late. Little boys need lots of rest, Tony.” He reminded the genius, voice considering. 

   It was interesting watching Steve and Tony interact. The two were always affectionate, Tony being a big fan of making Steve blush in front of the others, but it was different. Very different when they were daddy and little Tony. Steve didn't seem so nervous about showing affection openly, and Tony didn't seem so exhausted and defeated. It was nice. Bucky was quickly falling in love with it.

   “I'm with Tony. Play time, definitely.” Mainly because he wanted to see play time. But also because it just made sense. Tony could tire himself out playing. Little Tony didn't seem as willing to brave exhaustion as big Tony. Speaking of little Tony, he was nodding and pointing to Bucky. “See! Play!” He smirked, having formed an alliance. Great. Steve just rolled his eyes, but nodded. “Fine, fine. Majority rules.” He relented. And Tony eagerly hugged him and said a quick thank you before hurrying over and pulling a bin out of the closet.

   Steve was there in an instant, too. “Hey, hey. I think that the Lego’s might be a bit too heavy for you to carry, honey. How about something else?” Wow. So he was one of those parents. Bucky smirked and sauntered over, easily picking up the bin and marching towards the living room. “C’mon, scout.” He told Tony. Tony did so, following him happily. And another eyeroll from Steve, even though they didn't see it. Bucky was an enabler. And Tony was definitely gonna use that all the time. But seeing his little boy following his boyfriend was pretty great. Worth it. “Come on, daddy! Lego’s!” 

   Steve joined them. Bucky sat on the floor next to Tony and popped the lid off the bin. He honestly didn't know what Lego’s were. But he was sure to find out. Tony started pulling handfuls of the colorful bricks out and piling them on the floor, along with what looked like tiny people and animals. Bucky watched him before picking up a few of the blocks and turning them over in his hand. 

   “Like this.” Then a smaller hand, Tony's hand, reached out and took a red brick from his hand. With his other hand, he grabbed Bucky’s and guided it.

   The red brick in Tony’s hand clicked together with the black one in Bucky’s, locking them together and making one solid form.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there it is! Now, to get the next chapter started you guys have to answer a question:
> 
> What does "manus" mean?


	4. Chapter 4

   While still a little, and most certainly Steve’s little, Bruce was not like Tony in other persuasions of the fact. Both in practice and desire, the two varied. Regardless, Steve loved his boys equally and very much so. He didn’t question their dispositions while little, didn’t pry, because had it been him he wouldn’t have wanted anyone to be asking about it either. Bruce and Tony were also both very hesitant on speaking of their past as well. Best not to force anything that might tear old scars that had taken so long to heal in the first place.

   In that respect, Steve still carefully acknowledged their differences so he could be the best daddy possible. The two scientists deserved that. Tony seemed to settle comfortably around two to three years old depending on stress level and environment. The more stress, the lower Tony sank. The more of his team around to see, the older he tried to act. It brought him a lot of grief when he was too little to play with Bruce. Bruce usually hovered in the four to six range, but was known to drop lower after a mission as the Hulk. It was easier to just relax and be cared for then, but overall Bruce liked his independence. And he loved being Tony’s big brother. Even though the baby could be pretty boring at times, like when he had to nap or couldn’t play certain games. 

   Luckily, Bruce could turn to Clint in times of need. He was almost always the oldest, and more able to play complicated games Tony couldn’t. The archer’s headspace settled in at about seven, and a very confident and adventurous seven-year-old at that. Phil was no stranger to his thrill-seeking little hawk greeting him with bruises, scrapes and fantastical stories. Clint, of course, left out the parts he thought he might get in trouble for. Like exploring the vents or blowing shit up in the lab. 

   He was unaware that JARVIS took care of informing Phil of all his more daring stunts for him. And he was fortunate enough that Phil usually let it go, so long as it wasn’t too dangerous for him or the two younger ones tailing him around the tower faithfully. Yeah. Bruce figured Clint was a pretty good cousin, even if he wasn’t the best influence.

   Bucky was an oddity. Big Bruce understood. The man had been through hell and then some, and as a result wasn’t the best with social interactions amongst other things. He had horrible flashbacks and night terrors. Bruce still welcomed him into their relationship with open arms, because if Steve trusted him, Bruce trusted him. And, well. 

   Bucky certainly wasn’t at a loss for good looks.

   Little Bruce was a bit less welcoming, mainly out of confusion. He had his daddy, his little brother, cousin and uncle. Everything he needed. Then suddenly, there was Bucky, too. Only, there wasn’t. The man would watch them play with interested eyes, but never made a move. Bruce didn’t know what to call him or how to address him, so he just didn’t. He left Bucky alone and focused on other things, highly aware of the man’s eyes on him. Until Bucky was suddenly involved. It threw Bruce, teetering between headspaces, for a loop. But he certainly wasn’t going to miss it.

   Shamefully, he hid in the bathroom. He was still in that awful in-between area, and unsure which was better. Big Bruce could handle it, could talk and smile easily with Bucky. Little Bruce could ignore him and focus on playing with his little brother. After a few more minutes of indecision and weighing pros and cons, Bruce flushed the toilet he hadn’t even used and exited the bathroom. He’d made up his mind. But when he saw Tony and Bucky playing with Lego’s on the floor, he quickly changed his mind. His eyes lit up and he looked to Steve, his face giving it away. Steve smiled back and walked over, hugging him and ruffling his hair. 

   “How’s my boy doing?” And it was more than a regular pleasantry. Steve was aware of Bruce’s unease around Bucky when little. 

   Bruce hugged back, giggling quietly and moving his head away to spare his hair. “I’m good.” He answered, willing himself to believe it. He had to give Bucky a chance. It was only fair. He peeked around Steve and saw Tony and Bucky attempting to build what looked like a tower. Bucky’s lack of experience with the blocks and Tony’s clumsy baby hands seemed to be making for slow work. Bruce looked back up to Steve with wide eyes. His daddy placed a kiss on his forehead, took his hand and walked over to join the other two. He sat down with them, Bruce immediately following his lead. Bruce felt littler, so when Steve let go of his hand he reached out to hold onto the hem of the man’s shirt. Steve didn’t say anything of it. “What are you guys building over here?” He asked the two clumsy ‘architects.’ Tony perked up, like he always did when he heard his daddy’s voice, and his eyebrows scrunched together. “Tower.” He said, looking at Steve like he was crazy for asking. Bucky nodded along seriously, being a good sport and stroking Tony’s ego. 

   “Well,” Steve started, “I’m sure Bruce would like to help. Right, Bruce?” And then suddenly three pairs of eyes were on him. He froze up a bit at first before timidly nodding. Tony shoved a pile of bricks towards him, trusting his big brother to know how to help, then went back to adding onto his growing tower.

   It wasn’t very structurally sound. Bruce could see it leaning towards the right, and it was bound to fall. He scooted closer and added some bricks to the left side, balancing the weight out so the tower stood a lot more solidly. “Good job, kid.” That wasn’t his daddy’s voice. That was Bucky. His head snapped up to look at the man. There was a small smile there, but a proud one. “Thank you.” Bruce mumbled before adding more to the tower and trying to balance and account for Tony’s habit of over-building on one side. 

   The tower was about a foot tall when the first yawn was heard. Tony’s. The baby always fell asleep before Bruce, no matter all his protesting and insisting that he wasn’t tired. Steve took that as his cue and stood, walking over behind Tony and scooping him up before he had the time to fight it. Which he did anyway, squirming and kicking his legs to search for purchase on the ground as soon as he was lifted. “Lego’s, daddy!” He whined, nearly kicking their tower over in his attempts to be freed. Bruce and Bucky watched, both holding back laughter poorly while Steve frowned and struggled to keep ahold of the flailing scientist. 

   “It’s time for bed, Tony, you know that. Little boys need lots of sleep.” Lines he’d said a thousand times before. And he’d be saying them endlessly. Tony was very determined. 

   Bruce didn’t notice he had scooted closer to Bucky, the two leaning against the couch. But then he felt a hand card through his curls and instinctively leaned into it. His eyes were half-lidded and he began to relax before realizing his daddy was not the one doing it. He startled slightly and looked over to the body connected to the arm of the person petting him. Oh. Bucky. And the man didn’t stop, just kept slowly carding through, gently working out whatever knots he ran into and lightly scratching the little boy’s scalp. Tony had liked it, so he figured hell, might as well try it with Bruce.

   It proved a success as Bruce allowed himself to relax again, giving in to the good feeling. Steve and Tony were gone when he glanced up again, and needless to say he wasn’t very jealous of Tony’s situation. Testing the waters, Bruce slowly leaned over and rested against Bucky’s side. The man was warm and solid, just like his daddy. Of course big Bruce already knew that, had cuddled with Bucky before. But for little Bruce, it was all very new. A small sigh left him at first, quickly replaced with a yawn that earned a chuckle from Bucky. He felt his cheeks heating up a bit in embarrassment. “Seems like both of the little scientists are tired.” Bucky commented, only making Bruce blush more before covering his face with both hands.

   Bucky could’ve carried him to bed just as easy as Steve did with Tony. But that was...a lot. More than either of them were ready for at that point. So instead Bucky stood, gently holding Bruce’s shoulder and pulling him up, too. “Hey, let me see that face.” He coaxed, tapping the little boy’s hands. And, slowly, Bruce lowered them to look up at Bucky curiously and was met with another small smile. He returned it with one of his own. Bucky reached to take one of his hands, making his intentions plainly obvious so Bruce would have time to pull back or say no.

   But Bruce didn’t. He let Bucky take his hand, noting the contrast. He was almost always cold to the touch himself, his hands small and scarred in areas from work with chemicals, but Bucky was warm and his larger hands were calloused, yet still nice to the touch and somehow welcoming. Even his grip was reassuring, steady and confident like Steve’s. 

   Bucky was a lot like Steve.

   But very different, too. 

   Bucky gave his hand a quick squeeze with nowhere near the amount of pressure a super soldier was truly capable of before leading him to the bedroom, where Steve and Tony had disappeared to. Upon entering they heard the quiet voice of Steve, rhythmic and steady as he read from a book to the nearly asleep Tony. And he was suddenly not so close to sleep at all. Tony’s eyes shot wide and his sleepy smile turned into a grin at the sight of his big brother. Bucky shot Steve and apologetic look, to which Steve just waved it off. Bruce slipped away from Bucky and joined Tony in the bed. 

#

   As the two little boys began chattering in their own little world, the two adults in the room started talking quietly. 

   “I’m so glad they like you. And you like them?” Steve looked to Bucky hopefully.

   “Eh, they’re okay.” Bucky shrugged, smirking. “For kids, anyway.”

   Steve snorted and shoved him lightly. “Aw, whatever. I saw you. You’re a big softie, Buck, admit it.”

   He shrugged again as he watched Bruce and Tony babble on about some cartoon with dogs. Tony seemed to be complaining that there were no dogs like Manus in it, just other kinds of dogs.

   “Jokes aside, I don’t think this could’ve gone better.” Steve’s voice breached his thoughts and Bucky jumped slightly. Steve chuckled and was shoved lightly for it.

   “Yeah. It’s...interesting. They’re so different.” Bucky sounded a bit lost in thought.

   “Good different?”

   “Good different.”


End file.
